| Android Market's sixth sale day wants to fill your phone with games -- and a bedtime story Posted: 11 Dec 2011 09:26 AM PST  Another day, another selection of pocket change-priced apps. Highlights from today's offering include the return of Endomondo Sports Tracker to the sale shelves, swashbuckling adventure BackStab HD and SimCity Deluxe. It's a game-centric selection for this lazy Sunday, rounded out by Backbreaker Football, Captain America and Jenga. You can fill up your pretend basket at the Android Market link below. Four more days to go. |
| Google's Androidify holiday wardrobe update lets your bot ring in the New Year Posted: 11 Dec 2011 08:15 AM PST Ready to celebrate the holidays this year? Google has gone and refreshed its free Androidify app with some season-appropriate gear for your avatar. The new virtual wardrobe selections should certainly please a variety of tastes, whether you're itching to fit your robo with an ugly Christmas sweater or just a pair of New Years party specs. You can catch our bot's new winter threads below, and snag the update for yourself by hitting up the Android Market link below. |
| Nintendo's 3DS slide pad gets unboxed in Japan, reveals massive 480 hour battery life Posted: 11 Dec 2011 06:21 AM PST Now that Nintendo's 3DS slide pad is hitting shelves in Japan, it appears that Mr. Blurrycam managed to get in on one owner's early unboxing. Glance at the contents strewn about above and you'll notice what looks to be a copy of Monster Hunter, the secondary joystick-adding peripheral itself and an included wrist strap. According to Andriasang, the owner reports that the add-on is stated to last a whopping 480 hours on its single AAA battery (for the unit itself), which makes the thought of dealing with its screw-secured compartment sting a bit less. Folks in the US will still have to wait until February 7th to experience the slide pad for themselves, but in the meantime, you can hit the source links below for more insight. |
| Refresh Roundup: week of December 5, 2011 Posted: 11 Dec 2011 04:29 AM PST Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Official Android updates - The HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile is getting a maintenance release. The firmware remains Android 2.3.4, but the new release -- called version 1.50.531.1 -- offers improvements in battery life, system stability, screen responsiveness, icon pixelation and so on. It should be rolled out to every user by mid-January. [Unwired View]
- Soak tests for the Motorola Droid Bionic's newest update are being conducted. Known as version 5.5.893, the refresh fixes a large number of issues, such as 3G and 4G connectivity, messaging app improvements, reduced low memory warnings while the phone's plugged into the LapDock, increased number of mobile hotspot connections and less shutter lag on the phone's camera. [Droid-Life]
- HTC is upgrading the Desire HD and Incredible S to Android 2.3.5 and bumping the UI up to Sense 3.0. The Wildfire S, additionally, remains on Sense 2.1 but at least received an upgrade to Android 2.3.5 as well. [AndroidCentral]
- The HTC ChaCha and Salsa are also getting updated, but these are merely maintenance releases meant to fix WiFi and Twitter functionality. [The::Unwired]
- US Cellular's pushing out Gingerbread to the Samsung Galaxy Tab -- specifically, Android 2.3.5. Aside from the usual 2.3 goodness, the update appears to offer a few additional bug fixes and changes some default settings. [US Cellular]
Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery - Someone has finally unlocked the bootloader on the LG G-Slate, which will open the door for custom ROMs on the device in the future. [Android Police]
- A developer is putting the finishing touches on the Team Hydro Bootmanager. This tool will make life much easier when you make a mistake on a hacked device, causing it to become stuck in a bootloop. The Bootmanager sits in the phone's boot image and stops the endless boot-up with a message asking you what you want to do next. Fortunately, the Bootmanager will be coming soon and will work on almost any Android phone. [AndroidCentral]
- The Samsung Captivate Glide on AT&T has now been rooted. [XDA-Dev]
- A dual-boot ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S II, known as the Galaxy Dual, is now available for download. This gives the option to have a primary and secondary ROM on your device; to get into the primary ROM, boot up your phone normally. When you want to use your secondary ROM, however, press the three-key combo (home, power and volume up buttons) and you're in. [TheAndroidSoul, thanks Kapil]
- Developers have been able to port ICS onto an HTC Inspire 4G. Note that this particular port is in beta, and thus still has a few kinks to be worked out. [XDA-Dev]
Other platforms - The HTC HD7 and Radar 4G on T-Mobile started receiving the 7740 build of Windows Phone Mango this week, which enables the Internet Sharing feature on both devices and resolves issues with Visual Voicemail. The HD7 also got the ability to pick up hidden WiFi networks, and the Radar was given the green light to download and customize ringtones. [TmoNews]
- Owners of the Pre 2 are reporting that they're getting webOS 2.2.4 on their devices. The refresh adds Skype support for non-Verizon Pre 2 phones, and adds Bluetooth MAP support and sync improvement for the PIM apps. webOS 3.0.5 for the HP Touchpad is also in the works, which is primarily a bug fix that also enables HTML5 video support for both portrait and landscape modes, in addition to low disk space alerts and a new sensor API. [PalmInfoCenter]
Refreshes we covered this week |
| Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, LTE probably won't work Posted: 11 Dec 2011 02:11 AM PST Hopes of a cross-network LTE standard were dashed months ago, when Verizon confirmed its 4G band won't overlap with AT&T's. What we didn't realize, though, was just how globally fragmented this technology is likely to become. A report by Wireless Intelligence predicts there'll be 200 LTE networks around the world by 2015, running on as many as 38 different frequency combinations. Moreover, the most common 700-900MHz spectrum range could account for just 16 percent of these networks. This stands to make carrier locking and band incompatibility on handsets even bigger hassles than they are today. And that's what's botherin' me. |
| Indonesian government threatens to ban BlackBerry services if it can't spy on users Posted: 10 Dec 2011 11:49 PM PST It's not the first time that RIM's security measures have caused a bit of an inferiority complex, but the Indonesian government now is threatening to ban BIS and BBM services within the nation if it doesn't get its way. Partially, it seems that Indonesian officials are upset that Research in Motion will be building its new data centers in Singapore, rather than in the homeland. Additionally, as is, the government is unable to monitor these communications, which it sees as a security risk. As you likely know, all data is currently processed in RIM's Canadian facilities. Heru Sutadi, a member of the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulation Body, had the following to say: "With the condition as it is now, we warn that the country's users to be cautious about using BlackBerry because the data exchanged is not safe or cannot be guaranteed of its safety." Sounds creepy, right? We always feel safer when knowing the government is monitoring our messages, too. |
| Zalman reportedly entering the graphics card market, merging GPUs with cooling solutions Posted: 10 Dec 2011 09:15 PM PST Recently leaked slides suggest Korean computer outfit Zalman will soon jump into the ever-expanding graphics card market, initially partnering with AMD on its Radeon series. Known best for its quiet computing technologies, the company's move to infuse GPUs with cooling solutions could enhance the performance of the cards, making overclocking a lesson in simplicity. The slides only show the AMD 6870, 6850, and 6770, but it's feasible more models will appear when official news is released. Given AMD's many board partners, differentiation is important to remain competitive and on their payroll -- graphics cards and their overheating habits is Zalman's cup of tea. Hopefully this brings more innovative products in the coming future (heck, we've already got GPU / NIC hybrids), perhaps as early as CES. Check past the break to view the specifications breakdown for the aforementioned cards.  |
| Ask Engadget: best wraparound video eyewear solution? Posted: 10 Dec 2011 07:00 PM PST We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Tywannabe, who can't live another day without a set of 3D video glasses to attach to his phone. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I have been searching for a set of good video glasses for a while, but haven't been able to find a perfect set. I definitely need connections for the Galaxy S II and iOS devices. They also have to have their own battery. Screen size and resolution aren't very important, but it would be nice to have at least 480p. This may be impossible, but I'm desperate. Thanks a lot!" Anyone pleased with their Vuzix set? Anyone have any alternatives? Help a fellow gentleman out in comments below, won't you? |
| ThinkGeek Drum Machine bangs out block-rockin' beats wherever you go (video) Posted: 10 Dec 2011 04:32 PM PST Here it is -- the final piece in your all fabric New Order cover band. This $30 wearable drum machine brings a much needed edge to ThinkGeeks existing collection of soft-circuit " instruments." You can choose from seven different drum kits, including the ubiquitous 808 and a palette of chip tune effects. The T-shirt's integrated recorder lets you build loops up to three minutes long and endlessly layer on the sounds. Just keep piling 'em on until your old-school hip hop homage has become an impenetrable wall of noise that washes over you as you walk down the street, proclaiming your geekdom in rhythm. And, of course, the included mini amp cranks all the way up to 11. Check out the videos after the break to see MC Lars and Dex Fontaine demo the capabilities of the personal percussion pullover.
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| BU wizards find success in unconscious neurofeedback learning, announce plans for secret lair Posted: 10 Dec 2011 02:36 PM PST You will learn French this week, even if you're not aware that it's happening. Neuroscientists at Boston University have discovered that patients can quickly learn new skills while having their brain patterns modified via decoded functional magnetic resonance imaging. The group found that pictures gradually build up inside a person's brain, appearing first as lines, edges, shapes, colors and motion in early visual areas with the brain then filling in greater details as needed to complete the object. From there, a correlation was confirmed between increased visual learning and fMRI neurofeedback, repetitions of the activation pattern leading to long-lasting performance improvement. Interestingly, the approach worked even when test subjects were not aware of what they were learning... which is why that sweater you unconsciously knitted last night should fit Johnny Boy like a glove. |
| Toshiba Thrive 7-inch slate officially drops tomorrow, December 11th Posted: 10 Dec 2011 12:23 PM PST Just in time for you to get your holiday shopping wrapped up early, the Toshiba Thrive 7-inch tablet will officially go on sale tomorrow, December 11th. Sneaking in before the early December reports that we'd heard pass, the slate will allow you snag a piece of Honeycomb and a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor for "less than $400." While you're deciding between the 16GB and 32GB options, go on and bookmark that source link so you can be quick on the trigger in a matter of hours. |
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